NYT: Russia Inquiry Stemmed from Trump Foreign Policy Advisor’s ‘Night of Heavy Drinking’

Papadopoulos ‘Made a Startling Revelation’ to Australian Diplomat

The New York Times reported Saturday afternoon that the FBI’s inquiry into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and what role Donald Trump and his campaign may have played in it, began with “a night of heavy drinking.”

“During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain,” the Times reported, that “Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.”

The New York Times continued:

About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.

Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.

The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.

“It was not, as Mr. Trump and other politicians have alleged, a dossier compiled by a former British spy hired by a rival campaign” that began the counterintelligence investigation, the Times continued. “Instead, it was firsthand information from one of America’s closest intelligence allies.”

The FBI declined to comment on the matter to the outlet, and the Australian Embassy in Washington “declined to provide details about the meeting or confirm that it occurred.”

“As a matter of principle and practice, the Australian government does not comment on matters relevant to active investigations,” they said in a statement to the New York Times.

Papadopoulos secretly pled guilty to lying to the FBI in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe in early October. The lies in question involved Russia, and Papadopoulos reportedly attempted to meet with Russia President Vladimir Putin’s team in an attempt to get “dirt” on Clinton.

All 17 U.S. government intelligence agencies have unanimously agreed that Russia worked to disrupt Americans’ opinions and to install a president that Putin preferred—Donald Trump. In summer of 2016, Trump was warned by the FBI that Russia would attempt to infiltrate and spy on his campaign. He apparently ignored them.

Aside from Papadopolous, and these new revelations, it was revealed that Donald Trump Jr was in direct contact with Wikileaks throughout the campaign. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort was also indicted in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, with charges that included “conspiracy against the United States.”

Early Saturday, the Kremlin advised that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a New Year’s telegram to Donald Trump asking for constructive dialogue between the United States and Russia.

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